Rain
by Izzu
Summary: Rain washes away everything... dirt, blood and even the very stench of death. On such a gloomy day... to have someone accompany you to cheer you up, wouldn't be so bad either. GinXTae
1. Chapter 1

az: Set in any time after the Shinsengumi Internal Discord/Itou arc.

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Disclamer: Standard disclaimer applies. Because I'm lazy to write it out and surprisingly there were people out there that thought that fanfictions are canon and all that shit. Gintama was created by Hideaki Sorachi.

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Rain

Honestly don't bring up depressing topic when it's already so gloomy

Written by Izzu alias honou-no-izumi

o

o

_It's raining heavily as usual in this time of the year. Yet, tonight's rain was unlike the usual. Because you don't usually get to pick up some lost souls along the way in this kind of times._

Shimura Tae walked out of the store after bidding farewell to some of her friends who were heading at the opposite direction. It was raining heavily and everyone was rushing to head back to the comforts of their warm homes. It came as a surprise to her then to find the unlikely person, sitting alone on a bench in front of the shop; looking like an abandoned puppy. Seeing him in this circumstance, Otae could not help but walk towards him.

"Stranded in here because of the rain, is it... Gin-san? What have you been doing... out buying JUMP again?" asked Otae cheerfully.

Gintoki did not give her any reply as he kept staring blankly on the pavement. Otae frowned. She placed a hand on his shoulder to try nudging him but could not help noticing that his clothes were already wet. Her anger at him for ignoring her immediately turned to alarm as she shook him harder.

"Gin-san... Gin-san, are you alright? Gin-san!"

Gintoki blinked as he slowly looked up towards her.

"Hmm? What's the matter?"

Otae glared at him as she pulled him hard.

"What me? You're soaking wet! Come then... my house was nearer than yours, it's better than staying here—"

"I'm okay... just leave me here you—chii!"

Gintoki suddenly sneezed as Tae stared at him knowingly.

"You were saying—?" she asked as Gin reluctantly let himself be dragged away by the girl.

xxx

Otae's eyes lighted up as she returned into the room after Gin finished bathing and changing out into a dry yukata. She smiled as Gintoki gave her a perplexed stare.

"Ah! It fits you! I'm glad we finally had a use for it. Here... let me help. Didn't anyone tell you to dry yourself properly? You'll get a cold at this rate!" said Otae as she roughly dry Gin's hair with a towel.

"Hey... cut it—be gentle, you! Do you want to take my head off or something? And hey—no making my hair even more messy than it already was!" cried Gintoki as Otae laughed. He sighed as the young woman continued fussing with his hair. "By the way... whose yukata was this?"

Otae paused as Gintoki looked up towards her. She shrugged.

"It used to belong to my late father. It was too large for Shin-chan to wear it though... so I just keep it in the cupboard for the time being—"

Gintoki blinked.

"Y-your f-father's? I-is it okay t-that I—"

"It's okay. You looked good in it anyway. Besides, I won't be cruel as to let you wear your wet clothes... and at least these clothes have some other use as well rather than collect dust."

Gintoki grinned nervously.

"I... see. Tch!"

"Ah! You're already showing signs of getting a cold! Hmm... I knew we still had some sake in the kitchen and eggs are aplenty—Gin-san, wait here okay? I'll go prepare something for you—", exclaimed Otae as she darted out of the room, banging onto something else before heading straight to the kitchen.

Gin nodded at her as he sneezed again, barely noticing the danger before realising the situation he was facing.

"Ah yeah... sake... eggs... EGGS? Otae-san! Wait, you can't be thinking of making tamagoza—wait a moment! I can make it myself! You don't have to—Otae-san!" cried Gintoki in panic as he hurriedly rushed out of the room, barely noticing it as he stepped on something large; as he dashed towards the kitchen to save his life. Back at the corridors, Kondo Isao crawled to the side as he rubbed his face and stomach, at which the two monsters so conveniently stepped on him earlier.

xxx

Gintoki winced as he rubbed gently on his sore cheek. Otae glared at him as she courtly placed the tray containing a pot of tamagozake, a plate of azuki buns and two cups. She poured some of the tamagozake as she passed it to him.

"Really... you shouldn't have hit me so hard! At least the tamagozake turned out to be okay—", moaned Gin aloud.

"So you're saying that my _cooking_ was _bad_?"

"No, NO!", Gin hurriedly interjected, "—just that, I don't want the kitchen to blow up suddenly—" he said again before trailing off as he stared towards the pavements. It was still raining heavily outside and the night was getting late. Suddenly, he felt everything becoming cold again.

Otae frowned as she noticed this. She picked up a bun and broke it into two, before passing the other half to Gin.

"Hey... you're spacing off again. Here, have something to eat. Earlier we had some extra buns leftover so I brought some home—" she said as Gintoki perked up a bit and took her offer. He muttered his thanks as he bit on the bun.

Otae watched him silently eat and drink by himself before she sat a little closer to him.

"Gin-san, is there something wrong? You looked more depressed today than before. Is there a problem?"

Gintoki grinned at her as he sipped on his drink.

"No. Just that... the rain made me feel a bit low. If I hadn't been stuck in the rain alone by myself, it wouldn't be so bad. Being in the rain like this alone by myself... just made me recollect some memories that I rather not be remembering so much now."

Otae cocked her head in confusion as she took a sip off her own sake. A sliding door at the back inched out a bit as Otae threw a naginata towards it. The naginata stuck on the door, missing the target but she could barely hear the Kondo gasping for his life at the back. She smiled in victory.

But apparently, the small commotion went unnoticed by Gin as Otae poured for him more of the tamagozake. Gintoki's cheeks started to flush red as he continued to talk.

"Ne... Otae-san. Someone used to tell me that rain washes everything it fell on. That the presence of rain itself was cleansing. But I can't fully agree on that."

"Sure... it washes everything away; the dirt, blood... the very smell of death. But to me, it wasn't like that. That time... as I was standing there alone, covered in the blood of the enemies I've slain; the rain fell. Instead of washing everything away, the stench of blood and death clung onto me. That feeling... was never pleasant. It was scary. I really hoped to never again remember that part of my past ever again. But whenever it's a rainy season like this... and whenever I have been alone by myself in such situation, I—"

Gintoki flinched as Otae's warm hand crept onto his own. He turned towards her as she gave him a warm smile.

"—but you're no longer alone, Gin-san. You have a lot of people staying by your side. There's no reason to be afraid anymore—"

His eyes widened after hearing her words before they softened again. Gintoki chuckled.

"Yeah, you're right. Haha... silly me. You must've been laughing at me, isn't it? To be depressed about such things..."

"No, I don't. Gin-san also has the right to be depressed about anything. You can't always keep everything inside yourselves; you have to talk it out with people."

Gintoki paused a bit, looking at her in bewilderment before realising that what she said had some truth. He was not alone any more now...

Gintoki smiled weakly as he leaned closer towards her.

"Thank you... Otae-san—"

_I was stupid to not realise this..._

xxx

Kondo leaned closer as he could barely hear anything any more from the other side of the room. Because of the earlier retaliation, he had tried to be even more cautious when eavesdropping on the two but with things becoming even quieter now; he could not help feeling the suspense. What if something happen in there when he was not looking? What if something that should not be happen—wait, he should not be thinking too far! Otae-san would not be doing what he thought might be happening but then...

"Ah... sorry. That was unexpected, I shouldn't—ah!"

Kondo felt his heart coming to a stop. That... was Yorozuya's voice! What the hell was happening inside? Should he barge in? But what if he saw something that he did not want to see and actually confirming what he did not want to happen to actually happen right in front of him and actually seeing it—wait, he should not jump into any conclusions! But... the tension was growing inside of him! What if it was too late? What if there's something that was happening right now that would change the situation between his and Otae's relationship was brought out into the open? What if—ah! This was driving him crazy! Eh?

He swore he heard someone moaned just now! Was it his imagination? Ah... he could not take it any longer!

Kondo kicked the sliding door away as he was greeted by a very irritated Otae. He swallowed nervously as he barely noticed Sakata Gintoki leaning on her shoulders. Otae glared at him.

"What do you think you're doing, GORILLA? Didn't my warnings earlier indicate that I want you OUT of THIS PLACE?"

Kondo quivered. "B-but, I was worrying... and both of you were alone by yourselves here..."

"That was NONE of your BUSINESS!", she hissed before sighing. "Considering that you're here already... Gori-san, mind you help me carry this useless guy to that futon over there? And please fix that sliding door you so mindlessly kick away—", she said again, sugary. Kondo obeyed silently as he carried the now sleeping man to the futon, silently cursing his luck. (Hey, the Yorozuya gets to spend the night over in this house a couple of times and what he ever get all this time? Just several nights sleeping out in the cold... occasionally being accompanied by several sharpened bamboos.) But complaining was not going to make things better for him in any case so he went on obediently putting back the sliding doors in place. He turned around as the work was done.

"Now please go home, Gori-san!"

"But Otae-san—"

"Gori-san, it's disheartening for me to be calling the Shinsengumi this late just to escort you back. So please be leaving now."

Kondo froze as he was about to speak and sighed in remorse.

"All right... I'll be heading back now."

"Oh... and Kondo-san?"

"Yes?" asked Kondo hopefully.

"Earlier... you've been listening to our conversation, isn't it? I'd like it... that you would not be telling others about what you've just heard."

Kondo raised his brow at her as he understood what she had meant and nodded.

"Yes, I understand. I guess even for Yorozuya, there are things better left a secret."

"Thank you... and please be on your way now."

Kondo stuttered a bit at the change in topic as he unceremoniously took leave. Otae sighed as she proceeded to close the outer sliding door closed. She walked back towards Gin's side to cover him with a blanket. She sighed.

"Whoa... what a long night!" she exclaimed as she yawned. "Ara... I forgot to call Shin-chan and Kagura-chan to tell about Gin-san. Ah, later then!" she mused to herself as she glanced towards the sleeping man.

"Sleep tight..." she whispered as she planted a soft kiss on his cheeks.

xxx

Shinpachi and Kagura entered the dojo quietly as they locked the gates behind them. Kagura sighed as she followed Shinpachi into the main hall.

"Sorry Kagura-chan... for the suddenness. Since Gin-san hadn't returned home, I'd be worried if you stayed there by yourself, even though Sadaharu is with you. Plus... there's a lot of room here so staying over a bit won't be a problem."

"I understand—", said Kagura courtly as she patted Sadaharu's back. The inugami shook its fur as it sprayed water all over. Shinpachi threw her a piece of cloth as both of them tried to dry Sadaharu's drenched body.

"Really... where on earth was Gin-chan? I figured he might get stuck somewhere in the rain... but he never called back to tell if he's okay. Stupid Gin-chan..."

"Maa, maa... he probably couldn't get to a phone or something. In any case... where is my sister?"

"Eh, Shinpachi... isn't that Gin-chan's boots?" suddenly Kagura exclaimed as she pointed towards the shoe cabinet. Shinpachi blinked.

"Yeah... that's Gin-san's. Why on earth—Aneue, where are you?" cried the lad as he searched around the house.

"Anego—! Are you there?" cried Kagura from the other side of the room as she searched around with Sadaharu. As she entered another room, she gave a loud cry. Shinpachi immediately rushed over.

"What was it Kagura? Anything happened? Why did you just—"

Kagura just pointed towards the room as Shinpachi turned to look. Inside, both Gintoki and his sister were sleeping soundly side by side, oblivious to everything. Shinpachi and Kagura entered the room quietly as Sadaharu wandered elsewhere. Kagura groaned.

"Ah... Gin-chan! If you're coming here why on earth you never tell!" she cried as she grabbed one of the remaining buns nearby and ate it. Shinpachi shook his head as well as he took a blanket to cover his sister.

"Strange... why would Gin-san come here and why didn't sis called—"

"Perhaps because Anego caught Gin-chan drenched in the rain and brought him home and forgot to call in..."

"EHH? AND HOW'D YOU KNOW THAT—AND WHAT ARE YOU DRINKING? DON'T JUST SWALLOW RANDOM STUFF WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT WAS IT!" cried Shinpachi as Kagura pointed towards Gin's wet clothes that were hung at another corner of the room. She grinned as she finished drinking.

"I'm hungry and you're being too loud! What's the problem? This thing tasted nice anyway... ah, I feel sleepy..." sighed Kagura as she rested her head on top of Gin's chest, cheeks slightly flushed.

Shinpachi looked at her in confusion before taking a short sip of the leftover beverage in the pot.

"Tamagozake? Ahh... it was like that? Well... at least we don't have to worry about Gin-san anymore." he sighed as he turn off the lights for the night...

xxx

Morning.

Gintoki opened one eye lazily as he caught sight of the sleeping Otae beside him.

He blinked as he barely recalled the events from last night and sighed. Suddenly he felt something heavy on his left side and turned his head around to see Kagura snuggling close beside him with Shinpachi and Sadaharu sleeping as well at the far corner. Gintoki lifted an eyebrow.

"Eh? Since when this had turn out into some large sleepover session—?" he mumbled aloud as Gintoki rolled back to sleep.

o

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az: Hnn Hnn... because I needed my random dose of GinXTae and it was hard pressed to find much so I ended up typing this.


	2. Chapter 2

az: Thank you for the nice response. I really hoped to not butcher my characters too much.

Thanks to SpyralHax for pointing out some of the mistakes.

* * *

Disclamer: Standard disclaimer applies. Because I'm lazy to write it out and surprisingly there are people out there that thought that fanfictions are canon and all that shit. Gintama was created by Hideaki Sorachi.

* * *

Rain

When I told you it's embarrassing, it is embarrassing!

Written by Izzu alias honou-no-izumi

o

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"Wah! Tasty! Gin-chan... why did you never cook this good at home?"

Gintoki leered towards Kagura as he stuffed himself with food.

"I don't have money to buy these kinds of raw stuffs everyday. Beside with that black hole inside of you, we won't be able to survive much. Be grateful that you can eat... and this time it was a special service!"

"You really do cook well... Gin-san."

Gintoki's eyes shifted to another direction as he grabbed some more meat into his rice bowl. He turned towards Otae slightly as he muttered his thanks and slightly grateful that the woman had not caught up with his other reasoning for cooking breakfast for the four of them. The prospect of the abominable fried eggs was not what he looked forward to eating after all. But yes, he wanted to at least return the favor to her for letting him stay the night.

"Gin-san..."

Gintoki looked up. "What?"

"—what happened yesterday?" asked Shinpachi as he shrugged.

"It suddenly rained. Your sister happened to pass by and picked me up. That's all..."

Shinpachi nodded.

"Oh... that's wh—"

"I cannot believe it! You must have something up your sleeve! And I don't really think that your cooking was so good. Otae-san can't—!"

Kondo froze as he stuffed a piece of spiced shrimp into his mouth. Kagura, Shinpachi and Gin stared at him in surprise as Otae glared at him in annoyance. But before anyone could utter a word, the Shinsengumi commander cried aloud.

"Eh! This stuff is actually good! Can I have some rice ple—aaargh!"

Kondo fell as he was trampled by both Kagura and Otae.

"Gin-chan's cooking and its leftovers are MINE!"/"THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU TO LOITER AROUND!" came the cries of anger as Gin and Shinpachi stared at them, not sure of what to do. Gin sighed as both of them continued stomping the life out of Kondo.

"Hey... you two. You guys are overreacting—", said Gintoki as he turned around in horror to see Sacchan about to pour some natto onto the meat. "—what are you doing?"

The kunoichi laughed dreamily.

"My natto and your cooking should make a very tasty combination... just like Gin-san and me. So—eiiyahh!"

Sarutobi Ayame cried as Gintoki kicked the natto away before it could even touch his meat.

"What kinda logic was that?-! Don't put weird stuff to my food—", cried Gin in exasperation as Sacchan moaned happily at being scolded. "—and I wasn't playing any games with you! You M-woman!"

Plates started to fly as both Kagura and Otae started to use an even greater force to drive Kondou out of the house. The same thing could be said with Gintoki as he kept screaming at Sacchan to throw some sense to her. Shinpachi silently sipped on his tea while his two elders and Kagura continued rampaging around the house, forgetting altogether on their breakfast. He sighed.

xxx

"Aaaaaaiiiiii! I ended up feeling more tired!"

Shinpachi shook his head at him as he continued tidying up the place. Kagura had gone out again to walk Sadaharu around so it was only the two of them in the house.

"So what is it you had been doing yesterday, before you were caught in the rain? You went out so early, saying that we're not to accept any jobs for the day and left like that. Did you have something to do yesterday?"

Gintoki flicked an eye towards him as he stopped reading from the week's Shonen Jump issue.

"Hnn? Ah, yesterday... was it? That's... nothing important. Really..." said Gin before going back to reading his Shonen Jump.

Shinpachi blinked. That was short. He expected Gin-san to say more than that but... somehow he felt that there was more to it than him going off to take a break out of the blue. But since Gin-san made no move to elaborate more on the subject, guess it would be rude for him to press on the matter.

"Shinpachi? Something wrong?"

He blinked. Ah, he had not realized it that he had been in a daze for a while! Gin-san must be wondering what was wrong with him.

"Ah... ah! Nothing! I was just daydreaming! Ah... err, should I go buy groceries or something... err, Gin-san, what would you want to get—I'll go buy—"

"Don't bother yourself." said Gin right away as he glanced outside the window. "—if you're talking about groceries, I can always do it myself later. The weather looked nice for me to go in the evening anyway—"

"What nice weather? It's cloudy outside... it's the raining season after all—_what are you talking about_—" mumbled Shinpachi to himself as he headed to the exit.

"Oh... Shinpachi! If you're free, go help the old coot out downstairs! Earlier that granny had been asking about needing someone to help out, last night they had more customers coming than usual and the place really needed the cleanup. That coot and cat-eared trap wouldn't be able to finish the work just by themselves. Consider the pay they give as your pay for the month—"

Shinpachi mumbled his answer just loud enough for Gin to hear as he went out. Shinpachi sighed.

"But in the end that 'paycheck' would end up being just some light lunch from Otose-san, isn't it? Since any money that I would end up getting would end up being used to pay for the shop's rent. But then again, why isn't he working there as well? Hai..."

Regardless, Shinpachi headed into Otose's snack shop to work part time since he had nothing much to do anyway.

xxx

Katsura perked up as he paused from doing his part-time promoter job.

"What do you mean, Shinpachi-dono? Is anything wrong with Gintoki?"

Shinpachi quickly waved his hands around and shook his hands at him as he explained.

"No—nothing, Katsura-san. It's just... Gin-san has been acting strangely yesterday, not accepting any job and went off taking a break. And if I had guessed correctly, he ended up getting caught in the rain and probably got really depressed before my sister took him home. Sister and Gin-san hadn't said anything but I noticed that they hadn't fought much this morning like usual, so I could guess what happened yesterday can't be as simple as they said it was. I just wondered if Gin-san had any problems or anything. He's been quite docile yesterday and today as well..."

Katsura cocked his head at him as he appeared concerned.

"Now, that's... interesting. That was so unlike him... but then again he probably went off to have some adult fu—"

He immediately got hit by Shinpachi as Katsura crashed onto a nearby dustbin.

"WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? IF IT'S THAT SIMPLE I WOULDN'T—"

"I was just musing—", said Katsura as he rubbed his head. He slowly got up as something suddenly hit him. "Wait a minute... Shinpachi-dono, what date was yesterday?"

Shinpachi stared at him in surprised at the sudden change but told him the dates anyway. Katsura's face changed for a sec before smiling weakly. He blinked in confusion at this reaction. Was it something important—or very significant for both Gin-san and Katsura-san? Both of them really did appear to know each other for a very long time after all...

"Shinpachi-dono..."

He suddenly perked up.

"—you don't have to worry about Gintoki. That thing... is not something bad anyway." he said finally as Katsura started to leave to continue with his work.

"B-but... Katsura-san, you hadn't told me what—"

"Don't worry... everything would be alright—"

Shinpachi froze as he watched the man leave. And still he had not get the answers that he wanted to find. He thought he could gather some more information after he managed to finish the work Otose-san gave him earlier, but it seemed that it was meaningless. He was still clueless about the problem.

_And both Gin-san and Katsura-san said that 'it' was nothing to worry about. It was obvious that Katsura-san knew about what's bothering Gin-san. But what is it? _

And why was he feeing so obligated to find out about this?

Without having any answer to all of the questions swarming in his head at the moment, Shinpachi decided to head back to Yorozuya. And as he came back, he again was left wondering to himself as he stared at Kagura and Sadaharu.

"Eh... Kagura-chan? Where's Gin-san?"

Kagura looked up as she let Sadaharu eat his dog food.

"Gin-chan? He went out. He said he wanted to go buy some groceries by himself."

Shinpachi turned around to see the cloudy sky outside.

"Right now? At this time and weather?"

Kagura shrugged.

"Beats me. Gin-chan said he just wanted to go out at this time. But don't worry... Gin-chan brought his umbrella along. Two of them in fact! I thought he wanted to pick you up as well... but since you already here, ah never mind..."

"Two?"

xxx

An hour after midnight

"Ah... my bad, Oryou-chan... I forgot my umbrella. Silly me—", said the young lady aloud as both of the girls walked out from the shop and noticed the drizzling weather.

"What bad luck, Otae-cha—oh, but I think that should not be a problem now then, dear..." said the other girl as Otae stared at her in confusion. Oryou nudged her towards the exit as the man appeared out from the shadows. The young lady sighed as she and Oryou walked out into the rain.

Otae waved towards her friend as they parted before turning towards Gintoki.

"So what's the special service for, Gin-san?" asked the lady as she smiled at him amusingly.

Gin just shrugged.

"I had been out buying groceries and noticed it started raining in the evening. I happened to noticed that you didn't bring your umbrella along when we had parted this morning so I thought of returning you a favor—", he said as both of them started walking home.

Otae stole a glance at him before laughing softly by herself.

"You took quite a long time just to buy that little amount of grocery... what did you do the rest of the time? I found it hard to believe that you've spent so long a time at the supermarket for that. And who in their right mind brought two pair of umbrellas with him? Isn't one is enough?"

Gintoki did not give a reply as he looked elsewhere.

"I can do whatever I want by myself! You have a problem with that? At least you won't have to go home soaking wet."

Another giggle slipped by as Gintoki turned towards her in annoyance.

"Cut it out... you! What's so funny?"

"Nothing..." said Otae again as she continued laughing.

Both of them kept walking the rest of the journey home in silence as the people around Kabuki-cho started to lessen. Shops here and there save for the 24-hour store had already close down for the night. As they were nearing the district where Otae's house was at, Gintoki suddenly cleared his throat.

"Ne... Otae-san, actually... reason I came tonight was not only to repay you for last night."

Otae looked up as Gintoki rubbed his nose in embarrassment.

"Actually... yesterday, it's not the rain that made me depressed that much. If it's true, I'd be like that every time it rained. Just that yesterday... I'd gone paying a visit to someone. When the rain fell and I got caught in it, well... lots of thoughts came up on my head, you know. So that's why—"

"Visit? Who... a friend is it?"

Gintoki shrugged.

"Not really. I went to visit my teacher's grave... that's all."

"Oh! I'm sorry—"

Gintoki suddenly smiled.

"Don't trouble yourself! It's been a long time after all. And besides... the thing that had bothered me yesterday had no relation to him."

Otae looked up to him again, puzzled.

"When I reached there... I noticed there were two other freshly picked flowers placed at the grave. I guessed... I ended up being the last one visiting him again. Haha... but having seen that, I just had to think about those two other people who had come to visit before me. One... that should be from Zura. The other... well, I started to wonder when was it that the path between the three of us had parted from each other. Thinking about that... during such a gloomy day, tend to bring up bad memories."

A small hand slipped by and held on to his own as Gintoki turned towards Otae in surprise.

"There's nothing you could do to change the past, is there? But there's always things you can do in the present to make up for the past. Surely it won't be so depressing anymore."

Gintoki smiled.

"Yeah... you're right. And it's not like thinking about Takasugi right now would change anything. That was another issue that should be settled another time. Anyway... what I meant to say is—"

Otae cocked her head towards him.

"Thank you. Although it's hard to admit it... but you being by my side yesterday did made me feel better. I thank you for that."

Otae sighed.

"I thought that was why you came here... and you took such a long time to explain You really are a silly man!"

"Don't chide on me..."

"But still, it's good..." Otae said as she closed her umbrella. "The rain had ended after all."

Gintoki blinked as he also closed his umbrella and looked up to the sky. The stars glittered brightly, now that the clouds that were hiding them from view were no more.

"Yeah... I guessed."

Otae shook her head.

"No... I meant the 'rain' in Gin-san's heart." said Otae again, smiling.

Gintoki turned to look at her curiously as he grinned.

"Oh? Since when had you been sneaking on reading up my old Shonen Jump magazines?"

"Ah? That's a secret! And I liked that manga anyway. The way how Kurosaki-san wanted to save Rukia-san was both heroic and sweet. It kind of reminded me a bit about someone I knew..."

Gintoki laughed again.

"Okay... I lost to you today. You've been abnormally cheeky today."

"Hehe... and oh, Gin-san? I also had something else to tell you."

Gin raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"Come closer... I don't want to say it out loud!"

Gintoki frowned as he leaned closer towards her.

As fast as lightning, Otae reached up and kissed him lightly on the lips. Gintoki pulled away quickly in surprise.

"Hey! That's cheating! You caught me off guard!"

"Well... you caught me off guard also yesterday! That's your punishment!"

"But you didn't seem to dislike it! Who was it later that pull—okay, you win on that as well. I guess I'll always lose on things like this..." said Gintoki as their eyes met again. Both of them immediately looked away in embarrassment as silence suddenly filled the night.

Otae glanced around to find the alley still deserted.

"A-Anyway, Gin-san... would you still escort me home? It's not that far still..."

The man laughed.

"Of course, I am. I'm everyone's Gin-san! I'll always be able to be of service—"

"Well, right now... you're MY Gin-san."

"Can't argue with that... can I?" said Gintoki as both of them silently walked home together.

o

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az: Okay... now I feel that I've put a closure to this shot. XD. Tell me if there's any mistakes.


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